Candlestick



I. SPRATT.

Candlestick.

Patented Nov. 10, 1857 UNITED STATES PATENT oEEioE.

JAMES SPRATT, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

GANDLESTICK.

Specification of Letters Patent No.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES SPRATT, of Oincinnati, Hamilton county, Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Candlesticks; and I hereby declare the following to be a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification.

Convenience, simplicity, economy, and the demands of taste require that the connection of a candle with its holder should be easily and quickly eflected, the candle standing truly verticaland as much as possible clear of the socket and other encumbrances and burning to the end with an equal light and clean consumption of its substance.

It is a fact well known to housekeepers that the taper form in which mold candles are necessarily made causes serious inconvenience in securing them in the candlestick, the socket of which is always eithercylindrical or tapered in the opposite direction to the candle. The usual remedy is the clumsy and wasteful one of paper :the various devices heretofore contrived to obviate the difiiculty being radically defective from a variety of causes. The sliding stays or sheaths for the stem of the candle and the several forms of elastic claws or clamps for holding its butt are ungainly, inconvenient, liable to break or become deranged by use and also waste the candle and soil the candlestick. The elastic claws particularly are subject to bury themselves in the base of the candle in such manner as to materially waste and weaken its substance.

My invention consists in a provision for the convenient and effectual securing of a mold candle to the candlestick, the taper form of the candle itself being made available for this purpose.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a vertical section of a candlestick with an attachment on my plan. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the top or sconce and its appendages. Fig. 3 is a perspectiveview of a candlestick with my sconce detached. Fig. 4: is a perspective View of the ferrule by which the candle is secured to the sconce. Fig. 5 is a perspective View of a candle mounted with the ferrule and ready for at- 18,606, dated November 10, 1857.

tachment to the candlestick. Fig. 6 is a sketch illustrative of the manipulation of my device. Fig. 7 illustrates a modification of my invention.

In this invention the customary flange or sconce a, is made entire, extending over the whole top of the candlestick in the form of a shallow pan.

6, is a ferrule of conical form provided with an external screw which screws into a circular bead or ring a, rising from the sconce a. Channels (Z, are formed in the bead c, and corresponding radial grooves in the sconce a, which with the dished form of the sconce cause any melted tallow to run into the center when the candle has nearly burned out, whereby it is all consumed and the candlestick left clean.

The ferrule b, is placed over the top of the candle andmay be of size to commence to tighten about one-third from the bottom. Considerable practical experience in its use however'has proved that if it tighten but half an inch from the bottom the candle is held with perfect security and on the other hand if the candle above the center be of suflicient size to fill the ferrule, any but the hardest description of candles will admit of such slight compression as to enable the ferrule to be pressed down to the bottom without injuring the surface of the candle. The

solid ferrule is therefore so general in its applicability that ferrules of two or three sizes are found to meet the requirements of nearly every sized candle in common use, the threads on all the ferrules being of equal size so as to adapt them to the head 0. If how ever it be desired to adapt it still further to a variety of sizes of candles, the ferrule may be divided longitudinally on the principle of a telescope cap, its conical form being still retained. A moderate compression of the candle by the ferrule and the equal bear; ing of the latter around the former enable it to be tightly held by a ferrule not exceeding a quarter of an inch in width, which leaves a much larger proportion of the candle exposed than any other device known to me, causing a great saving in every candle burned, owing to the shallowness of the socket preventing it from becoming heated until the candle is very nearly consumed.

The impossibility of melted grease running down into the candlestick also saves waste and renders it very cleanly.

The sconce may be made separate as repre sented in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, so as to fit in the socket of a common candlestick.

Directions for using: Hold the candle upright on a piece of paper (to prevent soiling the table) slip the ferrule down to the extreme end and screw to its place.

An essential feature of my invention is that the ferrule is adapted to be passed over the top or small end of the candle and to prevent the free passage of its base. I therefore disclaim any such device as that exhibited in additional Letters Patent granted to In testimony of which invention I herev unto set my hand.

JAMES SPRATT. Attest:

OB. KNIGHT, WILLIAM H. JOHNSTON. 

